Articles Posted in the " Melissa McCarthy " Category

  • The Heat

    The Heat is the Bridesmaids (2011) follow-up director Paul Feig should have given us sooner, because it is a positive titan of its genre. Starring Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, The Proposal, our fever dreams) and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), the plot follows the sisterly evolution of Bullock’s emotionally crippled FBI Agent Ashburn and McCarthy’s trigger-happy…


  • The Hangover Part III

    When The Hangover took the box office by surprise way back in 2009 (was it really only 4 years ago?) most people were suitably impressed. It wasn’t particularly original, nor did it have uniquely memorable jokes, but it was fine enough in a period devoid of any other notable comedies. It gave us Zach Galifanakis, who we were all certain would go on and wow to world with his revolutionary brand of comedy. It gave us Bradley Cooper, now an Academy Award-nominated actor. It gave us hope that comedy film-making in general would learn that true comedy comes from reining the more colourful actors in and focusing on the straight man.




  • Identity Thief

    Seth Gordon’s directorial history is a mixed bag: he’s the man behind King of Kong the brilliant 2007 documentary about diehard video game fans but also the deeply disappointing, best forgotten, Four Christmases. Now he’s back with another mixed bag: Identity Thief. Part road movie, part buddy film, part goofball comedy, Identity Thief, manages to be an enjoyable example of all three – despite its unambitious premise and predictable plot.


  • This is 40

    Judd Apatow is back in the directing chair after working as a producer on most of America’s comedy output: Anchorman, The Five Year Engagement, Wanderlust, Get Him To The Greek, Superbad– the list is impressive. However, while Apatow has shepherded a lot of quality comedy talent in those films, his own directing and writing efforts (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) have received mixed feedback. In This is 40, he casts his own wife and kids as a family reaching a crisis point as the couple turn 40, in a plot that seems to imitate his own life. Sticking a little too close to home here proves to be the film’s downfall as laughs are few and far between.